Crystal River current., 1887-02-05
THE sEPOY nfUTINY.
i. ols story n nassssrs ard Carnage R.tsld.

II shudder yet when think about
IT," were the words which prefaced the
remarkable story related to a Com
mercial-G Gazette reporter by Mr.. Will
lam Bentley OF No. 80 ODuquesne way.
This gentleman is one of the few sur
vivinq European officers who witness
ed the blood-curdling terrors of the
Sepoy mrtiny in India in 1857 and
1855. II was q lieutenant attached
to the corps OF engineers in the Bengal
army" be continued. "We were sta
toned at Meerat. It was the 10th OF
May, 1857, that the uprising Of the
Sepoys occurred there. That was Sum
day evening. l saddled my horse to go
and see a friend who was an officer OF
one OF the native regiments of the
infantry. The Sepoysin this regiment
belonged to the disahected troops, hut
were not suspected. OF course I had
no suspicion. l had just arrived at
my friends bungalo when the natives
broke open the bells Of arms and By
gan the slaughter OF officers, who had
Just arrived from their quarters.
"Each WAS killed on sight. One
whom spoke with a few moments be-
fore was Colonel Finnis. the brother
of the then Lord Mayor OF London.
My friend told me to look sharp and
save my life. l. at once galloped of:
The natives, however, saw me and
gave chase, but escaped with only a
bullet in my leg. took refuge with
the officers Of the sixth carbineer regi-
ment, and when they turned out
on parade shortly afterwards i
was requested to remain in their
lines. l staid there all night. The
massacre OF the officers and Their Ia
dies continued throughout the night,
and the scenes among the killed and
wounded were frightful beyond descrip.
tion. For instance on the stage ofthe
theatre at Meerat counted thirty-six
corpses. The following morning re-
turned to my regular quarters. All the
dead were brought on artillery wagons.
At this time the Bengal army consisted
of 22,69S Europeans, and l1S,663
natives.
These were nothing in comparison
with the scenes at Cawnpore-awful
scenes which at this long distance OF
time am quite unable to wholly BAN
ish from my mind when it reverts to
that country and time. 1t was here
that, by orders OF Mana Sahib, Briga-
dier-General Wheeler and his brave
soldiers were slaughtered in trenches
and fired upon by masked batteries.
The Mana put to death all the women
found in the town after cutting their
feet off and subjecting them to further
outrages. ps
Miss Wheeler, the lovely daughter
OF the general, rather than submit to
tho gross violence, leaped into a deep
well. The Mana at once seized upon
this horrible idea and as fast as the
European ladies were massacred their
Lad,es were flung into this we'll. At
the edge OF this famous Well of Gavin
pore,'I stood within week after it
was filled with its human contents.
The stencil arising from 1t was some.
thing that is sickening even to think
OF now. Over that site now rises one
OF the most magnificent pieces of arch
itecture to be seen in all India. 1t is
"a fine octagon marble building around
/the we'll, without roof. and inclosine
an elaborate tomb. 1t is near the
theater and close to the bank of the
finest canal in the world, the ganges.
Memorial gardens have also been laid
out around the scene of the massacre
and beautiful church erected.
"Children's brains were dashed out
against the walls OF buildings. When
1 Preached Crawpore the well was guard
ed and rallied in. On the walls ol
dwellings we saw signs Of fearful
slaughter. There were tatters of cloth
ing, clumps of hair clotted thick with
blood, while the 'slaughterhouse' was
smeared with blood and flesh. Thirty
pairs of feet were found in one place..
The two days OF the massa ere, out OF
900 Europeans, at least two thirds
were butchered, and in September 200
more were massacred. a
SIN the fearful retribution which
followed saw the mutineers strapped
to the mouths of cannon and blown
to pieces;others were hanged anywhere;
scores OF them were beheaded, and
Others shot down with volleys Of mus
kerry.
"Ihave seen the Mana, too. Before
the mutiny he was one of the best men
at our mess; after the rebellion he es-
capped and we had several chases after
him. It was thought that he was hid
den in the Nepaul hills, and have
good reason to believe that he died in
the jungle,
.:At the siege and capture of Delhi
was present and formed one OF the
party to blow open the Cashmere gate
= when Lieutenant Howe, Sergeant Car
michael, and two others were killed.
I assisted to carry out OF the ditch,
mortally wounded. the brave and good
John Nicholson under heavy fire from